Harvest

"Next time, offer a higher price and see if we can recruit that mage!" "The count is finished. Everything checks out." Ella looked up, her gaze naturally drifting past Marcus's shoulder. Gray the swordsman, Shir the assassin, Vallis the ranger... *Wait.* *Where's Zelier?* He had always accompanied them to turn in missions before, so why hadn't he shown up this time? Besides, judging by Marcus and the others, they looked like they had been through a brutal battle. Battered armor, exhausted expressions, and clothes stained with blood. Could it be...? "Mr. Marcus, were there any casualties in the party on this mission?" Ella asked, unable to suppress a sudden knot of anxiety. "I didn't see Zelier." "He's injured. He's at the clinic right now," Marcus answered. Hearing that Zelier was only injured, Ella felt a slight wave of relief and let out a soft sigh. Gray, however, looked amused. "Gak, our big guy, isn't here either. Why didn't you ask about him?" "Oh... How is Gak doing? Was he injured too?" Ella followed Gray's lead. "Yep, he's hurt too," Gray chuckled from the side. Ella squirmed uncomfortably under his stare. "Mr. Gray, please don't look at me and laugh like that..." "I'm just looking at a girl who went out of her way to remember Zelier." The grin remained plastered across Gray's face. "You care about him quite a bit, don't you?" "Mr. Gray!" Ella flushed scarlet. "Please don't make fun of me!" "All right, all right, I'll stop teasing you." Gray threw his hands up in surrender. Ella rested a heavy pouch into Marcus's hands, the clinking from inside announcing the generosity of the payout. "Here is your compensation for this mission. Please keep it safe." "Thank you." Marcus took the bag, his expression finally relaxing a bit. Fifty-three gold and fifty silver—an absolute fortune! *** Outside the Association entrance. "Well then, that concludes this mission." Marcus handed out the pre-portioned coin pouches to each member. "I hope we'll have the chance to fight side by side again." "Of course. A pleasure working with you." Shir pulled up her hood, and after turning a corner, her figure vanished without a trace. *** Morning. Zelier opened his eyes. He hadn't slept well at all; the throbbing stabs of pain from the wound on his calf had plagued him throughout the night. Aside from the physical injury, there was also the strain of having nearly exhausted his mana. Originally, Zelier could cast at most three Arcane Missiles. Yet in Ashwood Forest, he had not only cast three Arcane Missiles, but had also thrown in a few tier-two spells along the way. Even after a night's rest, the mana in his sea of consciousness hadn't fully recovered. His dreams all night had been fragmented and bizarre. After returning to town yesterday, Zelier had gone straight to the clinic. The doctor, however, had merely reapplied some fresh medicinal powder, wrapped the wound in clean gauze, and given him a few generic instructions to avoid strenuous exercise in the coming days. Beyond that, there wasn't much else to be done. With a slight shift of his gaze, his status panel materialized. Strength: 65 Agility: 61 Constitution: 68 Spirit: 71 Intelligence: 82 Perception: 30 Charm: 49 Luck: 41 The deciphering progress of Grand Creation remained stubbornly stuck at 0%, while Vile Tongue had reached 20%. Zelier estimated that at this rate, Vile Tongue was likely a tier-two spell as well. A mind-affecting control spell—he was certainly looking forward to it. Zelier sighed, propped himself up on the edge of the bed with his arms, grabbed the makeshift crutch leaning nearby, and limped downstairs. "Good morning, Zelier!" Oro's cheerful voice rang out from behind the counter. "Good morning..." Zelier scratched his head, a bit surprised to see her. "Aren't you supposed to be off duty resting?" "Today is the first of the month! I switch shifts on the first and fifteenth of every month, so now I'm watching the shop during the day." "The first of the month, huh..." Zelier mused. The calendar of the Candia Continent was largely similar to that of his previous world, also consisting of twelve months in a year, though the names were mostly derived from seasons and farming. For instance, spring had the Sprouting Month, summer had the Hot Wind Month, and right now it was the Harvest Month. Since it was already the beginning of the month, he would need to find time to visit the Mages' Guild today. Besides collecting his mage allowance, he also had to complete a mandatory commission. *I wonder what kind of quest they'll assign me... Maybe they'll just waive it considering I'm an invalid?* Zelier muttered to himself. Oro thoughtfully helped Zelier down the stairs and guided him to a warm seat by the fireplace. "Look at you—careless again, weren't you?" Oro squatted down, poked at Zelier's calf, and tilted her head up. "Is the wound feeling any better?" "Just so-so. It'll just take time to heal." Zelier gave a slight grimace. "I told you to be careful." Oro's brow furrowed slightly. "Were those goblins that hard to deal with?" *The goblins were fine; what was hard to deal with were people—damn Drake's party,* Zelier grumbled internally. Aloud, however, he lied quite naturally. "Yeah. Those green-skinned runts were darting all over the place, annoying as hell to watch. One lapse in attention and I got nicked." Having an injured leg was a huge nuisance, but fortunately, the arrow had only grazed his calf rather than piercing clean through; otherwise, things would have been far worse. Besides, wiping out a party boasting three intermediate combatants without losing a single member on their side made this minor scratch negligible. *Forty-one points of Luck, please keep working your magic!* Zelier prayed silently. Oro soon brought out breakfast. A steaming bowl of porridge, a few slices of freshly toasted, fluffy bread, and a bowl of vegetable soup. Nightflower Inn was quiet in the early morning. In the sunlight streaming through the windows, motes of dust drifted in gentle chaos. Zelier quietly enjoyed his meal, but before he had taken more than two bites, the inn door was pushed open. The newcomer was Marcus, who walked straight over and sat down across from Zelier. "Had breakfast yet?" Zelier greeted him. "Uh... not yet," Marcus answered honestly. "Oro, another set of the same!" Zelier waved toward the front desk. "Coming right up!" Oro called back cheerfully. "Thanks... Oh, right, here's your share." Marcus handed a cloth pouch to Zelier. "Twelve gold coins from the mission bounty, plus the money looted off their bodies—sixteen gold coins in total." "As for the money from selling the gear, that'll take another couple of days. Trying to offload so much equipment all at once would draw suspicion," Marcus added. "No problem, I'm in no rush right now." Zelier accepted the money, his mood considerably brighter. His personal wealth now exceeded twenty gold coins! Hard work always yielded a harvest.